Chapter 20 - The Unseen Horizon
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Late that night, long after Cassidy and Bella had fallen asleep, Dominic sat in his dark study. The only light came from the glowing embers in the fireplace.
He was reviewing the final asset transfers from the Rossi takeover when his private, encrypted cell phone buzzed on the desk.
Dominic frowned. Only three people in the world had this number, and none of them would call at two in the morning unless it was an absolute emergency.
He picked it up. “Valenti.”
The line crackled with static, followed by the sound of heavy, labored breathing.
“Dominic,” a raspy, unfamiliar voice whispered. The accent was thick, Russian, and dripping with blood. “They’re coming.”
“Who is this?” Dominic demanded, sitting up straight, every instinct shifting into high alert.
“The Commission didn't just exile Rossi... they sold his territory to the Bratva,” the voice choked out. “The Russians... they’ve been moving men through the ports. They don't want a seat at the table, Valenti. They want the whole city.”
A loud gunshot echoed through the speaker, followed by a wet thud. The line went dead.
Dominic slowly lowered the phone, his blood running ice cold.
The Bratva. The Russian syndicate was notorious for a level of sheer, indiscriminate brutality that made the Italian mafia look like a gentleman's club. They didn't care about rules, treaties, or collateral damage.
They would burn Chicago to the ground.
Dominic stood up, walking over to the window to look out over the dark, sprawling estate. His family was sleeping safely upstairs. The life he had finally built, the peace he had finally secured for Cassidy and Bella, was completely surrounded.
He pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk, revealing a row of loaded magazines and a heavy tactical radio.
The game was no longer about holding a throne. It was about survival.
May you like
Dominic keyed the radio, his voice dropping into the cold, lethal register of a king preparing for annihilation.
“Marcus,” Dominic commanded into the darkness. “Wake up the men. We’re going to war.”
